Winner ground game too much for ’Cats in quarterfinal romp

Jared Thomsen (40) follows the blocks of Sam Mertz (62) and Quentin Cordell (54) for a gain during Monday night’s playoff game in Winner. The Wildcats came up on the short end of a 49-0 score.

The Winner Warriors piled up 281 yards of rushing on their way to a 49-0 win over the Custer High School football team during Monday night’s quarterfinal round of the Class B playoffs.

The Warriors, the top seed in the Class B playoffs, wasted little time getting going on their home field, pounding out yards and running up a 35-0 lead at the half. Custer head coach Russ Bailey said his team had some bright spots offensively, but was somewhat overmatched when playing defense.

“If you don’t have kids who can run through a block and just stand there and take it, it gets to be a long night,” Bailey said. “We didn’t play downhill very well and come after them.”

On offense, sophomore running back David Gaston put together a nice game, carrying the ball 25 times for 82 yards. Quarterback Chase Glazier completed five of 17 pass attempts for 52 yards, 30 of which were by Erik Hiltunen on two catches.

“There were moments we moved the ball and protected pretty well,” Bailey said.âï¿½ï¿½“Our offensive line did a decent job of picking things up.”

Bailey said some of the problems that have popped up from time to time during the season came to the front again in this game, including overall focus. While the team was flagged only once in the game, there were times when not everyone was on the same page, on both sides of the ball.

“We suddenly started to try to adjust what we thought we should do on the field,”âï¿½ï¿½he said.âï¿½ï¿½“We didn’t continue to do everything we have been taught. That was the biggest disappointment Iâï¿½ï¿½had. In the face of adversity, our discipline broke down big time. We didn’t stay focused very well.

The Winner Warriors piled up 281 yards of rushing on their way to a 49-0 win over the Custer High School football team during Monday night’s quarterfinal round of the Class B playoffs.

The Warriors, the top seed in the Class B playoffs, wasted little time getting going on their home field, pounding out yards and running up a 35-0 lead at the half. Custer head coach Russ Bailey said his team had some bright spots offensively, but was somewhat overmatched when playing defense.

“If you don’t have kids who can run through a block and just stand there and take it, it gets to be a long night,” Bailey said. “We didn’t play downhill very well and come after them.”

On offense, sophomore running back David Gaston put together a nice game, carrying the ball 25 times for 82 yards. Quarterback Chase Glazier completed five of 17 pass attempts for 52 yards, 30 of which were by Erik Hiltunen on two catches.

“There were moments we moved the ball and protected pretty well,” Bailey said.âï¿½ï¿½“Our offensive line did a decent job of picking things up.”

Bailey said some of the problems that have popped up from time to time during the season came to the front again in this game, including overall focus. While the team was flagged only once in the game, there were times when not everyone was on the same page, on both sides of the ball.

“We suddenly started to try to adjust what we thought we should do on the field,”âï¿½ï¿½he said.âï¿½ï¿½“We didn’t continue to do everything we have been taught. That was the biggest disappointment Iâï¿½ï¿½had. In the face of adversity, our discipline broke down big time. We didn’t stay focused very well.

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